Wave Rolls On

Believe it or not, transit is a reality in the greater Miami area. The Fort Lauderdale city commission just voted to pay for 25% of the downtown streetcar project known as the Wave. That means they will provide $37.5 million of the estimated $150 million needed for the project. The next step for the Downtown Development Authority is to secure $75 million in federal and $37.5 million in state funding. It seems like a challenge, but the important thing is that this was a unanimous vote of support for the project to proceed.

A little more information on the project: The map shown above, from page 2 of this PDF flyer, is not necessarily the most current plan; but it provides a general layout of the proposed route. The streetcar, shown in yellow, will connect to future FEC corridor transit (purple on the map) and East-West transit on Broward Blvd. (green) at the location of the current Broward Central Bus Terminal. The terminal will turn into a multimodal transit hub for all these systems. Also on the PDF map is existing Tri-Rail in dashed red, the FEC corridor in purple, and the Sunport people mover (Airport to Seaport) in orange. The likely deviation from the route on the map is that the streetcar will probably detour down NW 1st Ave. before crossing Broward Blvd. so it can stop at the Central Terminal.

Contrary to what bloggers like Len Degroot or Alesh Houdek might be inclined to believe, Fort Lauderdale is neither dreaming nor out of touch with reality. With gas prices skyrocketing, people want alternatives to cars. Transit has never looked better.

4 Responses to Wave Rolls On

Contrary to what bloggers like Len Degroot or Alesh Houdek might be inclined to believe, Fort Lauderdale is neither dreaming nor out of touch with reality. With gas prices skyrocketing, people want alternatives to cars. Transit has never looked better.

Couldnt agree with you more man. South Florida is WAY behind the times in terms of mass transit. The region desperately needs a rail system. Im excited to see this happen and hope that the dumbasses who run Miami and focus billions on bullshit like Performing Arts Centers and baseball stadiums will take note.

Since I dont live in FLL or know the area well, I have a few questions for ya…

What is the FEC and what does it connect? Also, you mention that is a future transit – will that come before or after the streetcar project?

Does that green line already exist or is that also a future project? Id have to guess future…

blind, the FEC corridor is the existing Florida East Coast freight railroad tracks that run basically parallel to Tri-Rail in South Florida, but through the downtowns instead of out west. The study is to put transit on it in order to better serve the denser downtown areas.

That orange line is the Sunport people mover, essentially to move cruise passengers from the airport to the seaport and back. The benefit for locals is the tie-in to FEC transit and East-West transit, allowing us take them to the “intermodal transfer station” and take the people mover to the airport, or even to the seaport.

The green line is the East-West transit that is supposed to run along Broward Blvd. and I-595 from the Sawgrass Mills/BankAtlantic Center to downtown Fort Lauderdale. An interesting aspect is that it shares Andrews Ave. with the streetcar on its way to the airport. I know at least one person who suggested that the streetcar connect to the airport instead of the East-West transit to avoid the overlap.